Apple admits it slows down older phones. What are your thoughts about it?

Just to be clear, the only phones being throttled when the battery has deteriorated are the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE, and now iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2.1. (The Plus models of the 6/6s/7 phones are not being throttled. The Geekbench article only talks about the 4.7" phones.)

No phone **older** than an iPhone 6 is being throttled by this change in iOS since iOS 10.2.1.

You don’t get to dictate what people are due to replace. If their iPhone 6 is fast enough for what they do, the phone is fine for them.

What the throttling does is make people think their phone is no good by rendering it unusable for scenarios that were totally viable before the software artificially and secretly destroyed the device performance.

Suddenly, your A8 is about as good as an A5. Gratz!

This was misleading and you have to be retarded not to think Apple knew this fed into their upgrade cycles. I am not even sure why people are explaining this away, or trying.

The iPhone 6 Plus we had was perfect until the phone got throttled, at which point it became literally unusable and the person it belong to upgraded it to an 8 Plus.

In the real world, people aren’t making excuses. They’re just thinking their phones are done and they need a new $800 device. Apple does not tell them their phone is throttled, or that their battery is past that arbitrary threshold.

Also, I have an old HTC M8 here. The battery life is terrible now, but it runs at full speed and it has never shut down in the ice rink while iPhones do this all the time.

Apples issues are not a general LiIon problem. There is something wrong with the iPhones that do this, from a design perspective.

Especially when you factor in the HTC has more sensors, etc. than an iPhone 6 Plus and a smaller battery capacity even brand new. Either you’re eating up the BS Apple is feeding you, or you’re going to have to believe that HTC is using considerably better batteries in their cheaper phones.

The 6 Plus was bought mid cycle, so it wasn’t a 3 year old phone, either. It was just paid off a couple of months ago (27 months old, at most).

I have seen dozens of iPhones cut off when they get cold, in the ice rink here. That, or aggressive battery drain, which is why most people who train here have battery cases on their iPhones, or leave them in the lobby (“warm room”). I use my M8 on the ice. It has NEVER shut down on me, and the battery life is the same in the facility, by the ice surface, as it is in Florida during the summer

Again: I have never seen an Android device do this in the ice rink here - ever. If someone complains about “their phone” doing this, you can guess it’s an iPhone with 100% accuracy.

These issues, and this terrible workaround, are pretty much exclusive to iPhones.

Most Android phones as old or older than an iPjone 6 have removable batteries (Note 3/4, etc.) so they aren’t at the mercy of some - possibly rigged - OEM battery test to get a battery replacement and restore their device performance.

The secrecy and lack of transparency is problematic. The degree to which devices are throttled is problematic. Most people will blame the phone and replace it, because the device does not inform them and the batteries aren’t easily replaceable.

Good lord, that’s a lot of hyperbole for one post.

I’m in a -35 windchill in Canada and have never, not once, had an iPhone “shut down in the cold”. Not a 4, 5, my 5S my MIL is using every day, my 6 Plus my coworker uses, my 6S Plus my other coworker now owns, my 7 Plus my husband owns. Not one. Every iPhone you see shuts down in a rink? Not likely.

We get it. You hate Apple rawr. But wow you sure are on a tear that is sounding a little over the top. Holy cow.

I don’t agree with it. Batteries degrade, we know this, and we expect worse battery performance as our phones age. Apple slowing down phones that have been used for less than a year in some cases, to the point of noticing it in everyday use, is not OK. We have power saver available if we need to extend the life of our degrading batteries on an as-needed basis.

We have power saver available if we need to extend the life of our degrading batteries on an as-needed basis.

I think that you are still not understanding the issue. The issue is that if the phone continued to perform "normally" the battery would not be able to supply enough voltage to keep the phone running, despite having well more than enough battery percentage left. This was, in fact, happening to iPhone 6 and even 6s phones late last year. Apple is not slowing down capriciously - they are slowing down to prevent the phone from shutting off completely while you are in the middle of using it and finding that there is still something like 40% battery left when you restart it.

I think that you are still not understanding the issue. The issue is that if the phone continued to perform "normally" the battery would not be able to supply enough voltage to keep the phone running, despite having well more than enough battery percentage left. This was, in fact, happening to iPhone 6 and even 6s phones late last year. Apple is not slowing down capriciously - they are slowing down to prevent the phone from shutting off completely while you are in the middle of using it and finding that there is still something like 40% battery left when you restart it.

This is definitely not entirely true. In some cases, sure, but not all (or most). Many people found their iPhone 7 to become extremely laggy after the 11.2 update that included this "workaround." There is no way the normal user's iPhone 7 battery would be so bad that their phone would shut off under normal usage. Smartphones have been used by the masses for about a decade now, and other than degrading battery life, this has been a non-issue.

This is definitely not entirely true. In some cases, sure, but not all (or most). Many people found their iPhone 7 to become extremely laggy after the 11.2 update that included this "workaround." There is no way the normal user's iPhone 7 battery would be so bad that their phone would shut off under normal usage. Smartphones have been used by the masses for about a decade now, and other than degrading battery life, this has been a non-issue.

I've already included a link above to a post in Android Central about a Droid Turbo (a phone released the same time as the iPhone 6) that had a similar shut down problem earlier this year, and I'm sure that I could find more if I tried to. Phones have become more and more powerful as time has gone by, but battery technology has not improved as fast as phone processors have. And, frankly, I disagree with Apple's design decision to make phones thinner at the expense of battery size. If the iPhone 6, 6s and 7 had been a mm or so thicker, perhaps there would have been enough battery capacity to prevent this from being an issue in the first place.

And, it's also been reported that a lot of issues with slow devices on iOS 11 are solved with a backup/reset/restore cycle. Many of these reported battery drain issues may be caused by something other than throttling due to battery degradation.

I've already included a link above to a post in Android Central about a Droid Turbo (a phone released the same time as the iPhone 6) that had a similar shut down problem earlier this year, and I'm sure that I could find more if I tried to. Phones have become more and more powerful as time has gone by, but battery technology has not improved as fast as phone processors have. And, frankly, I disagree with Apple's design decision to make phones thinner at the expense of battery size. If the iPhone 6, 6s and 7 had been a mm or so thicker, perhaps there would have been enough battery capacity to prevent this from being an issue in the first place.

And, it's also been reported that a lot of issues with slow devices on iOS 11 are solved with a backup/reset/restore cycle. Many of these reported battery drain issues may be caused by something other than throttling due to battery degradation.

I’m sure there have been similar incidents, but in the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t been an issue. It’s already been proven that this move by Apple has had a direct impact to the device’s performance; something a reset won’t fix. If it was an issue with battery technology, all manufacturers would need to do the same thing to keep their devices from shutting down randomly. They all use the same battery technology.

It doesn't surprise one bit. For those who are surprised must have been delusional to say the least. Apple's motto has always been about the bottom line even it's at the consumers expense. They are the only smartphone vendor that gets away with overcharging a product for years. But hey, if people continue to do so, my hat's off to them. With that being said, I will continue to buy iPhones, but Android is still my OS of choice. I guess Android not updating old phones doesn't seem like a bad idea after all.

I’m sure there have been similar incidents, but in the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t been an issue. ...

The same can be said of this incident with Apple. In fact, had it been any other company, it probably wouldn’t even be newsworthy, in my opinion, just like it hasn’t been newsworthy with similar incidents involving non-Apple products.

The same can be said of this incident with Apple. In fact, had it been any other company, it probably wouldn’t even be newsworthy, in my opinion, just like it hasn’t been newsworthy with similar incidents involving non-Apple products.

Even after everything that I've seen, I really haven't taken any position on this issue. I don't feel strongly one way or the other. That said, I understand why Apple does what they do with the batteries on these said devices. The only thing that make my eyes go a bit wider is the fact that they have already enabled this setting on the iPhone 7. It's only 15 months old if someone bought it on launch day. The battery can be that screwed up on a 15 month old device is what is more worrisome to me.

The same can be said of this incident with Apple. In fact, had it been any other company, it probably wouldn’t even be newsworthy, in my opinion, just like it hasn’t been newsworthy with similar incidents involving non-Apple products.

I didn’t use those products, so I didn’t care. I do use Apple, so I care about this one.

Even after everything that I've seen, I really haven't taken any position on this issue. I don't feel strongly one way or the other. That said, I understand why Apple does what they do with the batteries on these said devices. The only thing that make my eyes go a bit wider is the fact that they have already enabled this setting on the iPhone 7. It's only 15 months old if someone bought it on launch day. The battery can be that screwed up on a 15 month old device is what is more worrisome to me.

I pretty much share the same view as you. As for the iPhone 7, it’s arguably more of a preemptive move than confirmation of a definitive and widespread battery problem.

I do like Apples response. They are accepting their mishandling of things and making it right. I like to think it was the critics who made this happen. There were a lot of Apple fans giving free passes here and had that of been the blanket response we probably wouldn't be seeing the battery replacement price drop. Because of this we are getting a greater level of transparency over the devices we paid for. How people could argue against that was baffling to me. They were wrong. I'm glad they listened to the critics.

I had my 6S battery swapped out for free 12 months ago under the Apple quality programme - but it is definitely more sluggish after the recent IOS updates - stuttering when swiping between pages etc - even after reducing animations. So unless the new battery has worn out early I suspect there's more going on than batterygate?

....How people could argue against that was baffling to me. They were wrong. I'm glad they listened to the critics.

To deem people “wrong” because of your inability to understand their reasoning is in and of itself “wrong”. What doesn’t make sense for some people makes perfect sense to others. I learned that a long time ago. As for Apple’s battery replacement option, some people will take advantage of it and some people won’t.

I had my 6S battery swapped out for free 12 months ago under the Apple quality programme - but it is definitely more sluggish after the recent IOS updates - stuttering when swiping between pages etc - even after reducing animations. So unless the new battery has worn out early I suspect there's more going on than batterygate?

Have you considered restoring your device and then setting it up as a new device?

To deem people “wrong” because of your inability to understand their reasoning is in and of itself “wrong”. What doesn’t make sense for some people makes perfect sense to others. I learned that a long time ago. As for Apple’s battery replacement option, some people will take advantage of it and some people won’t.